The problems with DEFINING DYSFUNCTIONAL BEHAVIOUR

What is dysfunctional behaviour? It's a tricky question that not even the professionals can easily describe. The simplest definition is "behaviour which disrupts normal functioning such as social interaction and sustaining employment", but it's still pretty broad.

Rosenhan and Seligman (1984) attempted to define dysfunctional behaviour. They created four criteria for "abnormality" (this used to be the official term for what is now dysfunctional behaviour):

1. Statistical infrequency (if a behaviour is statistically very rare, it could be dysfunctional)
2. Deviation from social norms (if a behaviour is not "normal", it may be dysfunctional)
3. Failure to function adequately (such as causing observer discomfort and being irrational)
4. Deviation from ideal mental health (Jahoda's 7 criteria including aspects such as being able to act independently and having positive self-esteem)

Some of these criteria may seem fairly logical if you think about the term dysfunctional, however it would label the following behaviours as dysfunctional at one point or another: homosexuality, protesting (e.g. civil rights movement or feminism), inventions, science, having a high IQ, winning the lottery, e.t.c.

So, it's not ideal. It's also pretty ethnocentric. For example, the criterion of "being able to act independently" would actually be seen as dysfunctional in some cultures, as group decisions and democracy are seen as prevalent. Statistical infrequency would render high IQ dysfunctional, but depression functional. And everyone is irrational or has low self-esteem at one point or another; does that mean we necessarily all have a psychological disorder?

Evaluation issues for this section would include subjectivity, cultural bias, ethnocentrism, temporal validity, face validity and construct validity, as well as reliability.